Constantinople, 1859.
It is dangerous for lawyers and lovers when civilisations clash.
Under coercion, James Bingham, a struggling English barrister, joins Her Britannic Majesty's Supreme Consular Court at Constantinople. Osman Mehmed, a brilliant Turkish law student, loathes the British court, but the Ottoman government orders him to work with it on legal reform. Angry about injustices that women suffer, Rosamund Colborne initiates a relationship with James to escape a grim future dictated by her ruthless father.
The court's cases and the courtship's twists intertwine the fates of Mehmed, James, and Rosamund and force each to question what love and justice mean. With the Ottoman and British empires increasingly at odds, power, prejudice, and passions endanger the court's mission, the heart's desires, and the relationship between the European and Islamic civilisations.
At this precarious moment, a brutal crime threatens to destroy what law and affection have created. The trial reveals shocking secrets, and its violent end rouses courage by Rosamund, James, and Mehmed to see justice done and love prevail.